Week 118: Know What You Know – #AlphaFemaleFriday

We choose our careers and excel in our professions partly because we enjoy it—at least I hope you’re in a field that you love—and mostly because we know what we’re doing. We’re not going to know everything, and that’s perfectly fine. If you’re seeking out a new challenge and you think you’re underqualified, if you fit most of the bill with a few exceptions, just go for it. The worst you’ll face is a semblance of rejection, but you’ll gain a great insight into your strengths and potential for growth.

In the same way that we may gracefully accept both compliments and criticism, always take a step back to take stock of what you know versus what you don’t know. You know that there are things that you don’t know, but you may also find that you don’t realize there are things that you know. I once spoke with a friend who told me that during her interview process, she was constantly told by her interviewers that she wasn’t highlighting her strengths enough. They helped her see that certain skills that she thought were just standard for her vocation were actually big pluses on her resume. She knew more than she thought she knew, and she was better at it than she recognized.

You will find people in your life who will flagrantly voice their opinions as if they are golden facts to be treasured and cherished. Don’t fall for this outlandish behavior. Don’t follow their lead. This is just a mixture of laziness and overcompensation. They will try to mask what they don’t know because they are either too lazy to find out for themselves, or, more dangerously, they simply don’t care. When you’re dealing with someone who is so certain that it’s their way or the highway, you must make a choice to either embrace it, walk away from it, or change it. The choices is yours.

Cheers,

Kelly

@AlphaFemSociety tweets by @KellyRGonzales

About:

Each week, I take a tip from Lois P. Frankel’s book, Nice Girls Still Don’t Get the Corner Office, and explore how each of these tips affect myself and other women in similar positions on the road to becoming the women we want to be. There are far and few between who are a few steps behind me, and many more who are far advanced. I found that Lois P. Frankel’s advice applied to novice, intermediates, and experts alike. It helped me see that I was already doing right, served as a reminder to keep on doing what I was doing and how to keep that momentum going. The book also showed me areas where I could improve, and gave realistic tips to jump on board. There are a total of 133 tips, and explore one tip per week in a program I call: 133 Weeks to Success.

Join the movement using the hashtag #133WeeksToSuccess with posts which are posted every #AlphaFemaleFriday.